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Assisted Suicide for Adults and Children & Islamic Adult and Child Suicide Bombers

The recent bombing at a Turkish wedding which killed 54, brought the horror of Islamic children suicide bombers to our attention again. While the age of the perpetrator is still under investigation, it reminded us of the fact that Islamic minors are indeed being trained for this.1

We are naturally appalled at a practice which deliberately teaches children that such heinous actions are good.

But how much morally superior are we westerners? Belgium, Canada, Colombia, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Switzerland in addition to the states of Montana, Oregon, Vermont, Washington and, most recently, California permit assisted suicide.2,3 The Netherlands and Belgium even allow assisted suicide for teenagers who are vulnerable to the natural emotional upheavals of that age group.4 So, instead of protecting them and helping them through their sensitive years, these jurisdictions indirectly encourage them to kill themselves with laws saying that this is a good option.

When it comes to the safety of minors, the promoters of young assisted suicide are just as reprehensible as jihadists who indoctrinate children to kill themselves and others. The intrinsic evil of suicide is the same regardless of the age group; only the number of victims varies.

1 – “The boy looked scared and younger than 16 when Iraqi police grabbed him on the street in the northern city of Kirkuk. Pulling off his shirt, they found a two-kilogram bomb strapped to his skinny frame.”

“That was last Sunday. Less than a day earlier, Turkey was less fortunate: a teenage bomber detonated his suicide vest among dancing guests at a Turkish wedding party, officials say, killing 51 people, nearly half of them children themselves…”

“In Afghanistan, the Taliban has long used children. One 14-year-old bomber on a bicycle hit the Kabul NATO base in 2012 killing six people; two years later a teenager blew himself up at French cultural center in the Afghan capital…”

“Hisham al-Hashimi, an analyst and author who advises the Iraqi government on Islamic State, says militants this year had reactivated their Heaven’s Youth Brigade, in reaction to the group’s battlefield losses in Iraq and Syria.”

“’Teenagers are easier to recruit for suicide missions, especially in moments of suffering or despair having lost loved ones,’ he said. ‘They also attract less attention and less suspicion than male adults.’”

4 – “ In the Netherlands, a competent patient between the ages of 16 and 18 may request euthanasia or assisted suicide. The parent or guardian does not have a veto, but must be consulted. Competent patients aged between 12 and 16 may also qualify, but only if their parent or guardian consents.”

“ In Belgium, a competent patient under the age of 18 may request euthanasia with parental consent. Additional scrutiny of the child’s competence is required, and suffering based on a psychiatric disorder is excluded.”
From “Assisted dying: What does the law in different countries say?” by Penney Lewis, Professor of Law, King’s College London, http://www.bbc.com/news/world-34445715, 10/6/2015.